Rare clip shows ride that no longer exists where teenage Disneyland worker suffered one of the worst deaths imaginable
Rare footage of a former Disneyland ride has resurfaced, which shows where a worker would go on to die one of the worst deaths imaginable.
It was in 1974 when 18-year-old Deborah Gail Stone landed a job at the Disneyland resort in Anaheim, California, with the teen hoping to make some extra money before she went to college after the summer holidays.
Stone’s job was simple - she was there to welcome all of the visitors attending the new 'America Sings' attraction that had been created to replace the 'Carousel of Progress' ride that had been moved to Magic Kingdom in Florida.
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The attraction was pretty much a rotating theatre with animatronic characters who would sing songs from American history. But everything would change on 8 July, 1974 - nine days after the show opened.
At the end of each performance there was a 45-second interval where the host would ask the guests who'd just seen the show to leave, before welcoming the next bunch of guests.
During that time, the attraction would rotate and reset and before 11.00pm, it is thought that Stone got stuck between a rotating wall and a stationary one, becoming trapped between them.
The show featured a narrow channel that provided the show's movement between a stage stationary wall and a rotating wall. This gap was open and it is believed that she either fell, stepped backwards, or attempted to jump from one stage to the other as the rotating wall moved.
The poor girl suffered a horrific death as she was crushed between the walls, with the next group of people coming to see a show reportedly mistaking her screams as part of the new show.
One member of the audience realised something was wrong and tried to raise the alarm, but it was too late to save her.
An article at the time from The Los Angeles Times reported how Daniel Robison, a member of the US Air Force, had been in the front row of an adjoining theatre with his family when Stone’s death occurred.
He went on to tell investigators how he had witnessed what he thought was a child being dragged between the two walls, while hearing a horrifying scream.
Following Stone's death, America Sings would be closed for only a few days, before reopening to the public on 11 July with new safety lights and walls that someone would have more of a chance of escaping if they became trapped between them.
Stone's parents reportedly filed a lawsuit against Disney and received a 'small settlement' as a result.
The attraction itself would remain open for almost 14 more years, closing on 10 April, 1988, after which most of the animatronics were moved to Splash Mountain.
Since it hasn't been in operation since 1988 footage of what happened inside America Sings is pretty sparse, but there are clips of it in action circulating on the internet.
Britt Jones